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Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Gordon Parks: Issues in Black and White

Most photographers stay true to their field of specialty; rarely do photojournalists successfully delve into studio portraiture without going back to their documentary background, and vice-versa. There are of course a few rare instances where a photographer can go beyond his field and be recognized internationally. Gordon Parks is one who jumped from one field to another, dealing with different issues in black-and-white and in color, all with seemingly little difficulty.

Gordon Parks' name might mean something different depending on who you ask; to a photojournalist, he's known for his memorable images on poverty and civil rights, to a fashion photographer, he's remembered for his 1960s portraits of Parisian women, to a film enthusiast, he's known for his documentaries and films on black issues.

By the 1960s, Parks had moved on to films, first directing in "The Learning Tree", a film based on his semi-autobiographical novel, and then later on the hit movie "Shaft". It was also around this time that he covered the civil rights movement, taking portraits of Malcolm X and the people around him.

Looking through all of these photographs (which aren't even a fraction of Parks' oeuvre), one would think that they were taken by different photographers, yet such is the passion of Gordon Parks that he went and captured those subjects that he felt worth taking. While it may not matter much nowadays, the fact that he was black and wanted to get into the photography industry despite the difficulty was something that has helped today's generation of minorities. Hopefully, his photographs will stand the test of time to show that color doesn't matter when it comes to real quality and beauty.